GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FAMILY!

Hey everyone! I am in an extremely good mood today (even though I don't feel great) because my family is in the state from Alaska until the end of June!  They've been here for a couple weeks already, but we just now got to go see them.  I got to see my best friend Noah (who is four) and his little sister McKenzie (she doesn't like when we call her Kenz or Kenzie lol).  They're stationed in Alaska for the next two years since their dad is in the Army, so it is a real treat to get to play with them!  They might be back at Christmas since Daddy (Jacob) is in Afghanistan right now, but we won't know until then.  

The real reason I'm posting (besides to express my excitement... which I'll get to later), is because Jacob's team is getting hit really hard.   We like to think of him as safe because he has an office position, but that's mainly for our comfort.  Regardless, the men he has trained and stood by are getting hit with a high frequency of attacks.  Five troops have been lost just since settling in a month ago.  I'm asking everybody I know to add them (Stryker Brigade out of Kandahar, Afghanistan) to put them on their prayer list because they need all the help they can get!  Not just these boys though.  ALL of our military needs all the support they can get.  How often do you stop to think about the reasons you're free to do all the things you can do? You get to go to the beach in a bikini because of our military.  You get to wear whatever color of nail polish/make up on a daily basis because of our military.  You get to blog, and read blogs, because of them (in some countries blogging is banned due to fear of retaliation towards the government).  You get to have opinions about everything... because of our military.  Have you told a soldier "thank you" today?  You should.

Ok.  Back to the fun stuff! :)  We only got to stay for one night because of things that were planned today, but wow what a night it was!  We played in the sprinklers, had a water fight (that was pretty one sided.  Noah won.  Clearly.  He used the sprinkler instead of a gun!). We played hide-and-seek, red light/green light, red rover and pirates.  There were kidnappings, a hostile takeover and lots of escapes!  I got my bread and (homemade, yum!) jam stolen because "you snooze you lose," and lots of pictures were taken.  This morning when we were leaving, there were lots of hugs and kisses, but the best part was when we all put are hands in and gave a big "GOOOOOOO FAMILY!"  Those kids are my world, and my world gets a little lonelier every time I leave them.  I hope this week goes by fast! They're coming to my house this weekend! YAY!

Anybody who is still reading this, thank you!  I just needed an outlet to express my excitement.  Maybe I'll have some pictures up this weekend?  Who knows!  Anyway, thanks for looking!

Summer... HELP ME!!!

What does summer mean to me? Sweltering heat and allergies.  I mean, bad.  This morning I had a dream that I couldn't see because my head hurt so bad.  When I woke up, I realized I had the dream because I couldn't see since my head hurt so bad.  Awesome, huh?  What I'm getting at is that summer has always been a bad time for me to stick to anything.  Most of the time I can't taste, so I don't realize when I'm eating things I should/shouldn't.  Most of the time I can't breathe so exercise gets put on the back burner because I can't walk/run/do anything for more than five minutes at a time.  I hate going outside because of all the pollen so outside activities (while they do happen) are few and far between.  So I have to ask.  How do all of you who know where I'm coming from deal with it?  What are your tricks and secrets?  The medicine I'm on helps sometimes, but it doesn't seem like it's often enough! HELP!

<3 Kate

So... that lasted a long time.....

I'll admit, I got caught up in the holiday thing.  I have completely stopped all this dieting stuff.  Which sucks.  It really does.  I was doing SO WELL! Beyond what I posted on here, I lost another like, 5 lbs or something.  BUT as so happens, it's all back.  We'll see if I can get back on that wagon again, and you'll be the first to know!

Thanks
<3 Kate

Sunday night.

I've just finished for the night.  I'm writing this while I take a rest... I'm TIRED!  Tonight I did a few minutes (seconds) of Tae Bo Elite, and I'm still too sore from my lower body workout last night for it to work.  I decided to do Aerobic Striptease.  I looked like an idiot, but I WILL feel it tomorrow!  I'm also really excited because I got through the whole video. :D  I've never gone through a whole video of anything before!  YAY!  So, that and a few minutes of light stretching to cool down and I'm going to call it a night.

Food:
Scrambled egg white
pita
5 T salsa
10 tortilla chips
Clif bar
same yogurt/fruit as before
serving of butter beans (gross)
one fried chicken thigh
sprite zero
diet hot cocoa with 1 pkt instant coffee and 4t Peppermint Mocha coffee mate
1/2 kraft cheese slice
1T light sour cream
glass of milk
banana
Chocolate Mint Sensation Jell-o Temptations

Weight: 224.8 lbs

I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!  Have a good night/evening!
<3

Saturday

I'm checking in early today.  Due to the Iowa game and my friend's husband being a total bastard, I need some release before tonight.  I'll update with food later, but so far I've had a Clif bar, same yogurt as usual, and same salsa/chip servings that I have been eating.  So, on to workout.

Yoga w/ball
gentle yoga stretches
abs
upper body
lower body

With all that, I've burned more cals than I've eaten so I need to find something to eat soon.  I'll update later. Have a good day/night!

Food update:
Smart Ones Breakfast quesadilla
one whole boiled egg
one boiled egg white

Day 4! :)

Last night kind of got away from me.  Sorry about that.  We ran into an impromptu food and wine party and while I didn't eat or drink much more than I should have, I wasn't about to try to keep track!   :)  So, I'm back today.  Let's see what I've done!

Food:

• Larabar
• small pc cake (ugh, it's finally out of the house! yay!)
• 2 boiled eggs
• 4T salsa/10 tortilla chips
• 1 sq Vosges chocolate bar
• Pita sandwich with: 1 slice provolone, meat from two hot wings, 1 leaf lettuce, <1 T ranch dressing
• 1/2C triple berry blend
• 1/2C dannon fit and light vanilla yogurt
• Odwalla Choco Walla

 Exercise:

• 20 min walk, 2.0 mph
• 10 min walk, 2.0 mph

Total: 1 mile, 30 min

Yoga w/ball: 20 min

Stretches: 10 min

So, I found this site, caloriecount.about.com.  Normally, I wouldn't use it because I not only have (had) my own plans, but I'm keeping track of my consumption as well.  When I got to the site, however, I found that it is MUCH more amazing than just that!  It tracks all calories burned for all activities, daily weight, calories and activity, and even gives you a daily nutritional analysis!  I found out I'm need to start taking my multivitamins again.  lol  Hello Flintstones chewables!  HA  You should all check it out, it's already helping me tons!  See you all tomorrow!

:)

What is your favorite weight loss tool?  Let me know!

(oh, and weight: 227.6.  Two lbs!)

Day 3

Not much to report today except that my hunger issue was MUCH better today!

Weight: 228.6 (down 1 lb!)

Food:

• Larabar
• 2C milk
• 1C Danon Light Vanilla yougurt
• 1C mixed berries
• 1/4 C granola
• 2x2 pc chocolate cake
• One fried fish filet
• 1.5C Progresso Light Italian Vegetable soup
• Grilled cheese sandwich, two slices cheese
• two oreo cookies
• 1C milk
• Odwalla Berries Go Mega bar
• water
• tea

Exercise:

35 min on treadmill at 1.9=1.15 miles

Doing better already!  Hope to have more good news to report tomorrow! :)  Have a good night everyone.